Kate Photo: Princess of Wales Admits to Editing Mother's Day Picture

The Princess of Wales, Kate has admitted claims that she edited a Mother's Day photograph of her and her children and has apologised "for any confusion" caused as a result of the action.

Her statement was posted on Kensington Palace social media after five agencies retracted it over editing concerns.

"Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," Catherine said.

The image, taken by the Prince of Wales, was the first of Catherine to be released since her surgery abdominal surgery in January, and since then she has stayed out of the public eye.

PA, Getty Images, AFP, Associated Press (AP) and Reuters had removed the image. AP noted an "inconsistency in alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand".

According to royal sources, there were "minor adjustments" made by the Princess of Wales to the picture that was then posted online by Kensington Palace.

Kensington Palace, however, said it would not be reissuing the original unedited photograph of Kate and her children.

Although it is evident that the photograph was edited, but some basic information about the image remains unknown, such as when exactly it was taken, what was changed or whether it was a composite of a number of pictures.

The photograph shows the princess sitting down, surrounded by Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George, the latter wrapping his arms around her.

The image was posted with a message from Catherine which said: "Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months.

"Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day."

The photo was only intended as an "amateur, family photograph" released to mark Mother's Day, say royal sources.

In her statement on X, Catherine said "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C."

The apology, posted to social media, comes from the official account of the Prince and Princess of Wales, but it has the personal sign off of "C", for Catherine.

Catherine is taking responsibility for the changes to the photograph, rather than her husband Prince William, who took the photo, or any of the wider team around the royal couple.

The implication is that this was not a piece of professional manipulation, but some tidying up of a picture capturing a family moment.

Except that this was not just a personal picture, it was going to be shared with the world, against a background in which it would inevitably be seen as an attempt to stop the speculation and conspiracy theories about Catherine, as she recovers from an operation. Rather than answering many questions, the picture posted by Kate has raised more concerns